Added Family
by Leijona
Summary: Once they were lovers. Then they became friends. Now, they'll be family. Set in S6. After Peyton and Lucas come back from their roadtrip, engaged, Nathan pays Peyton a visit. NP friendship. One shot. Complete.


_**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Tree Hill. Or the song 'Added Familiy', it's from Mando Diao. Too bad, really._

_**AN:** I really wanted to write a one shot that somehow involved S6 Nathan and Peyton. This is what I came up with. I hope you'll like it :) Please let me know what you think, cause (as always) reviews are L.O.V.E. :)_

_**Summary:** Once they were lovers. Then they became friends. Now, they'll be family. Set in S6. After Peyton and Lucas come back from their roadtrip, engaged, Nathan pays Peyton a visit._

* * *

She opened her eyes when she heard someone knocking on the door of her office. Peyton smiled when she saw who was about to enter her office "Hey."

"Hi, Sawyer," Nathan smiled as he walked over to her "Or should I 'Scott' now?"

She shook her head and smiled back at him "Nah, not yet, still Sawyer." Peyton got up and walked over to Nathan. Before she knew it, his strong arms enveloped her in a tight hug. She threw her arms around his waist and inhaled the strong and familair smell of his cologne. She smiled against the fabric of his sweater.

"Congratulations, Peyton." Nathan let go and looked at Peyton.

"Thank you," she smiled and gave him a little nod "Sit down, Nate. It's been a long time since we had a chance to talk."

He nodded "Yeah, it has, hasn't it?"

Nathan looked around her office and was still surprised to see how much she had been able to achieve in such short time. He noticed the recording studio Haley had been talking about so much, always saying the sound was so good in there. He saw all the albums on the wall, the poster of her record label, the plaque she had gotten when Mia's CD went platinum. It made him feel proud of her. He sat down and looked at her. She looked happy, really happy. Her eyes sparkled, something they didn't do that often. He was glad Lucas had finally realised Peyton was the girl for him, it had taken him long enough. Nathan smiled as he remembered something "Can you believe you're actually becoming my sister-in-law?"

Peyton threw her head back and laughed "Oh my… That can't be good."

"Welcome to Tree Hill," Nathan smirked "Where once lovers now become in-laws."

"Oh God." Peyton chuckled, shook her head and sat down on the chair next to Nathan "It really is something else, isn't it?"

"Why?"

"I don't know really, it's just," Peyton looked down for a second and felt her cheeks redden "I always thought I would marry you one day."

"Did you? Really?" For one second Nathan thought about making fun of Peyton for saying that, but years of friendship had taught him one thing; Peyton Sawyer wasn't the one to open up about her feelings all that often. And when she did, you had to take it slow.

"Yeah. It's crazy," she sighed "I don't know why, but even after we broke up and you married to Haley, _twice_, I just always saw us ending up together for some reason."

"Huh." Nathan thought about what she said and really wasn't surprised.

There always was and always would be something more, something special between them. Something, that at times, kept them from being friends, because the attraction became too big. It was one of the reason why they hadn't been in touch that much after high school. After Peyton had told Lucas 'not now' a couple of years ago and Nathan had his accident, they both were in a pretty dark place. They could have used a friend, someone who was going through a hard time in life as well. But they both knew that if they would have spent any time together, it would have gone wrong. They probably would have ended up sleeping together, just to find comfort. It was what they did. It was one of their old, self-destructive habits that hadn't vanished completely.

Nathan realised Peyton was looking at him, waiting to hear what he thought about what she had just said. He gave her a smile "You know, I eh," He took a deep breath "It's probably wrong to say this, but, for a long time, I also thought you and I would get back together. Even after I married Haley again."

Peyton smiled, but looked down. For some reason, hearing Nathan saying those words felt great and horrible at the same time. She put her hands against her cheeks, shook her head and looked at Nathan "We're terrible even talking about this, Nate."

He shook his head "No, we're not. We _would_ be, if you would dump Lucas and I would divorce Haley and we would run off together. But we're not doing that. And it's not like I'm regretting marrying Haley every single day. No. I love her and I want to be with her, but…"

"But what?"

Nathan shrugged "Maybe, if things would have gone different, you know."

"Yeah," Peyton put her hands down in her lap and leaned back "But they haven't and we're happy, so," she took a deep breath "So, I am marrying Lucas and you are gonna stay married to Haley."

"Exactly." Nathan looked at Peyton and smiled, knowing that they both felt the same; what if they had had another chance together? What if he hadn't been such an asshole to her all the time? And what if they would have tried just a little harder?

Peyton closed her eyes "Is it everything you wanted it to be?"

"What?"

"Marriage." Peyton opened her eyes and looked at Nathan.

He thought about that for a second, before he answered "Yes and no."

Peyton nodded "Tell me." She put her hand on his arm to let him know she wouldn't judge him.

He cleared his throat "Well, I think Haley and I are really good together. You know, we complete each other. And Jamie means to world to me, so does Haley, but it's…" Nathan shook his head "I don't know. It's frustrating sometimes that I can't be the man she wants me to be. Sometimes, when I do something, like getting in a fight here at Tric, you know, with Jason, and I see the disappointment in her eyes. That's worst thing. Disappointing her. Because to be honest, I can't think of something she has ever done that disappointed me."

"Nate…"

"No, it's ok. That's just who we are, I guess. And no one has ever said marriage was easy, so I think we're doing pretty good. I mean, of course we have our difficulties, but we talk and we argue about it and it all helps." Nathan looked at Peyton "But you know what is the best thing about marriage?"

She shook her head.

"That you're not alone. You have promised to love each other in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health and until death does you part. And you are together in that promise. So whenever times get tough, all you have to do is look at that ring around your finger and remember the promise you have made." Nathan leaned back "So yeah, in the end, marriage is everything I wanted to be."

Peyton looked at Nathan with tears in her eyes. She cleared her throat "I'm proud of you, Nathan Scott. You turned out to be the man I always knew you could be."

"I listened to you, you know?"

Peyton raised her eyebrow "What?"

"Do you remember that speech you gave me when we had to do that assignment in senior year, when we were in the gym?"

Peyton laughed and nodded. It was a day she thought about often. She had enjoyed spending time with Nathan and it had been one of the last times she had spent time with him, only him, before she left for L.A.

"You told me that I had to put myself first every once in a while, so I wouldn't end up bitter like my Dad."

Peyton smiled and gave him a wink "I've always been the one for corny speeches."

Nathan grinned "Yeah, you have. But you know what? I listened to you. I put myself first every now and then and it feels good. I get to forget that I am a husband and father and son and coach for a little while. Forget the expectations people have of me. You know, I get to be me. And I like that."

"Good for you, Nate," Peyton stood up and ruffled his hair "I'm glad I made somewhat of an impression that day." She walked over to her desk and opened her drawer "I don't know if it's appropriate, but," she took out a bottle of whiskey "Can I offer you a Johnny?"

"Always." Nathan smiled "Didn't know you were such a rock star, Sawyer."

Peyton shrugged but gave him a wink "Ah, well, you have to keep up with all the artists, you know. Especially a certain Mrs. Haley James-Scott. Now there's a rockstar if I ever seen one. She will drink me under the table any given day."

"Really?" Nathan tried to keep his face straight, but failed. He grinned "You always were a bad liar."

"I know, I know." Peyton laughed. She sat down again and handed Nathan a glass. She poured both of them some whiskey and gently put her glass up to his.

"Cheers."

"You know," Peyton took a sip and enjoyed the warmth of the alcohol making its way through her body "Has it ever occurred to you that both Haley and Lucas grew up on the Rivercourt?" She looked at Nathan's puzzled face and laughed "Both of them were not all that popular in high school, while we..."

"Were awesome." Nathan laughed as he caught her drift "Yeah, you've got a point there," he took a sip and smiled "We were always pretty good at corrupting America's youth."

Peyton laughed "Yes, we were." She looked at the ring around her finger and smiled. It had taken some time, but finally she would be Mrs. Lucas Scott. Peyton Scott. It sounded good and always brought butterflies to her stomach. She turned towards Nathan "Nate? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Peyton sighed "It's just, that, eh," she folded her hands around the glass and tried to find the right words "It's, it's my Dad. He... He's away and he won't be home for the wedding and I..." Peyton felt tears coming to her eyes, remembering how difficult it had been to hear her Dad say that he couldn't leave from work to come to the wedding. It made her sad, having no family there. She tried to blink away the tears before she cleared her throat "I just wanted to ask you if you would want to walk me down the aisle." She looked up at Nathan and tried to smile, but failed. Instead tears were sliding down her cheeks. Peyton dried her eyes "I'm sorry, Nate. It's just, you are the closest thing I have to family and I would have taken you as my bridesmaid instead, but Brooke's got that position and she won't give it up for anything. And I'm guessing Lucas would want you as his best man anyway, so I just thought…"

"I'll do it." Nathan put his glass down and used his sleeve to wipe some of her tears away "It would be my honour."

"Thank you." Peyton put her glass down, got up and pulled Nathan in for a hug.

"No problem, Sawyer," Nathan rubbed her back "I'll do anything for you, you know that."

"Yeah, I know," Peyton smiled through her tears and gave Nathan a kiss on the cheek "Thanks. I love you. You know that." She smiled and gave him a wink "Brother-in-law."

Nathan laughed "Love you too, Mrs. Scott."

**- FIN -**


End file.
